During the hydraulic fracturing of a well, fluids are pumped into wellbore casing and subterranean features using reciprocating or positive displacement pumps. The pumps are typically powered by one or more engines that are coupled to the pumps through a series of components known as a pump drivetrain. The pump drivetrain can include a variety of components, such as, but not limited to, an engine output shaft or driveshaft, a transmission, one or more gear reducers, one or more drivetrain linkages and a pump crankshaft. During operation, vibration occurs in the pumps, the pump drivetrain and other equipment coupled to the pump drivetrain. Excessive vibration causes damage to the pump drivetrain and can damage the pumps and other equipment coupled to the pump drivetrain. Furthermore, such vibrations can accelerate wear on parts of the drivetrain, such as the transmission, resulting in the need to replace these parts before other parts of the pump drivetrain are ready for replacement or servicing. When components of the pump drivetrain fail, replacement components must be substituted at significant cost to well operators. In some instances, well operators plan for this type of failure by obtaining standby components, which further increases the costs of operating the well. In some cases, the pump drivetrain experiences resonance vibration, which can cause extensive damage to pump components, as well as potential hazards to nearby workers.
Dampers have been used to reduce vibrations in a pump drivetrain. For example, one or more viscous dampers are often coupled to a pump drivetrain to reduce reciprocating oscillating torque and vibrations in the pump drivetrain. However, current dampers do not adequately dampen vibrations and often do not dampen vibrations until the vibrations have gained momentum in the drivetrain. For example, current viscoelastic dampers respond to inertia already present in the pump drivetrain and have slow response times due to the fluid viscosity and tension in parts of the damper, such as the elastomer bladder. In addition, current dampers require large, heavy components to counteract vibrations in the pump drivetrain. Due to current weight limits on vehicles used to transport equipment to and from well sites, such as frac trucks, current dampers can cause the frac trucks to be overweight, thus requiring road permits for transportation of the frac equipment. In addition, current dampers containing large, heavy parts are often difficult to couple to a pump drivetrain and, when coupled to a pump assembly, are difficult to remove and service.